


A Sudden Arboreal Stop

by melissaukgirl



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-28 00:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melissaukgirl/pseuds/melissaukgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A boy and his hover board.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sudden Arboreal Stop

The hover board was neon green and bright yellow. 

Ruby smiled at her nephew, Leo, as he ripped open the wrapping paper. Leo beamed first at the present then up at Ruby, “You're the best, Aunt Ruby!” 

“Leo, what do you say to your Aunt?” Ruby wasn't sure how her sister-in-law, Lily, went from gossipy to mom-voice so quickly.

“Thank you! Thank you! Are you going to watch me?” Leo practically vibrated with excitement. As soon as Ruby said, “Of course! Go for it!” Leo tore out of the house heading for the backyard. 

“Watch out for sudden arboreal stops!” Ruby's brother Jeff called after his son. Ruby and Jeff's wife turned to look at him.

“Flying into a tree,” he explained.

“We have to make sure he follows the rules. I don't want him to get hurt.” Ruby completely understood the worry in Lily's voice. She had called Lily before buying the hover board to make sure it was an acceptable present for the twelve year old boy. But dangerous or not, flying instead of walking was what every child over the age of six was doing and Ruby didn't want Leo to feel left out. 

“We will get him a helmet and flying pads tomorrow,” Jeff tried soothing his wife. Not wanting to cause an argument between the couple Ruby sheepishly said, ”I'm sorry, I should have thought of that.”

“Don't worry about it!” Lily said, “You'll never get out of being his favorite aunt now.” Jeff walked outside to help Leo balance on the board hovering an inch or two above the ground. As the women watched inside, Leo held out his arms like he was balancing on a beam before pulling his hands toward his body and leaning forward slightly. The hover board moved up and away before stalling again.

“You're doing great, just move a little more forward this time,” Jeff spoke encouragingly to Leo. Ruby watched them practice and chatted with Lily until it was time to go home. 

* * *

At work on Monday, Ruby found herself in conversation with a few co-workers in the break room. The topic of hover boards and the ability, or the lack, of children to fly them came up. Ruby told them about the hover board she had given to her nephew for his birthday.

“At least when I was a kid, the boards came with wheels and never left the ground.” Ruby could always count on Ted to make a trite “back in my day” remark.

Not one to let a statement like that go unchallenged, Conner replied, “That was back in the Stone Age, right?”

Ruby was grateful that the two men were good friends both in and out of the office or the glare Ted sent Conner's way would have vaporized him. 

To get the conversation back on track, Ruby interjected, “I felt bad because I hadn't thought to buy Leo at least a helmet.”

“I thought hover boards had the same rules as bicycles and stuff,” Michelle always sounded a little worried about everything. Ruby though she was a sweet girl but a little out of her depth in the workplace. 

Conner shared his know-it-all opinion, “Not yet. Hover boards have only been around for a couple years, so they don't have the same laws about safety gear.”

As was typical, Ted had to put his two cents in, “Soon that'll change when the government decides to stick it's nose into...”

“Helmets save lives.” Ruby had never heard Michelle interrupt anyone in the six months the young woman had been at the office. When everyone turned to look at her, Michelle elaborated, “My best friend's son was riding his bicycle and was swiped by a car. If he hadn't been wearing his helmet, he could have died.” 

Ruby wanted Michelle to know she agreed with her, “My brother and sister-in-law went to the store and bought my nephew a helmet and flying pads yesterday. Safety is pretty important to them.”

Michelle smiled at Ruby appreciatively for her support. The impromptu break room bull session broke up soon after that. However, Ruby left the conversation vowing not to underestimate Michelle in the future.

* * *

It really was a great day to go to the park, Ruby couldn't help thinking. The sun was shining and the sky was clear blue with only a few fluffy clouds. She grabbed her purse, a blanket and picnic basket and headed over to meet her brother and nephew. Leo was holding the hover board to his chest like someone was going to take it away from him. Jeff held up a mesh bag containing a helmet and elbow and knee pads. “Time to suit up!” 

“Seriously? I'm gonna look so stupid.” Ruby started to get concerned that Leo had entered teenager-hood a little early. She decided that she wouldn't worry too much until Leo started to say like every third word like she had as a thirteen year old.

“Tough luck, better to look stupid than be stupid.” Ruby quirked her eyebrows at her brother's clichéd words. Jeff shrugged and took the hover board as Leo started getting the safety gear out of the bag. Leo half-heartedly glared at his dad while he pulled the pads on and stuffed the helmet over his spiked hair. Jeff gestured at the helmet buckle and Ruby clicked it for Leo. Complete with a pout on his face, Leo grabbed the hover board out of his dad's hands.

“I'll just stay here and watch.” Ruby put down her belongings and started to spread out the blanket on the grass and the boys walked over to the open field where a couple of other kids on hover boards were flying around. He dropped the hover board flat on the ground, stepped on the board and took off flying in a tight circle a couple feet off the ground. She was impressed at how much Leo had learned in just the past couple of weeks. Ruby cheered and clapped at his acrobatics. After a couple minutes, Leo landed and tumbled off the board beaming at his dad. Jeff steadied Leo on the ground and they high-fived in celebration. 

Distracted by watching Leo's improved flying, Ruby didn't notice the teenage boy sneaking up behind her. The boy rushed forward, grabbed her purse and jumped on his hover board flying quickly away from the scene of the crime. 

Ruby started shouting, “Help! He has my purse!”

As soon as Jeff heard her cry, he seized Leo's hover board and took off after the thief. Ruby ran to where Leo was still standing, hoping that Jeff could catch the boy and her purse before he got away. Flying high, the thief turned to look behind him at Jeff headed his way. Just as the boy faced forward, the purse snatcher and his hover board hit a large oak tree. Jeff landed and caught the boy before he could run. He grabbed the purse from the thief and tossed it to Ruby before heading over to the automatic police call box.

“Wow!” Leo exclaimed. “That was so cool!”

“I can't believe your dad caught that guy! Nice work!” Ruby was quite impressed with her brother's heroics.

“Yeah! And you know what?”

“What?”

“The guy made a sudden arboreal stop!”

 

THE END


End file.
